Cooper City Pushes For Park Over Housing

COOPER CITY — City commissioners want to stop the Broward County School Board from selling a 10-acre unused school site in Rock Creek to a developer.

Commissioners said they told the School Board in April that they would like the site by Hiatus Road and Sheridan Street to be turned into a neighborhood park.

But a June 21 letter from School Superintendent Frank Till to City Manager Chris Farrell states the School Board wants to get money for the $1.5 million site.

"I don't know what they're going to do with [the site]," Till said. "Our position is that we need full value for this land."

Earlier this month, commissioners said they want to keep the property out of the hands of developers.

"They want to develop single-family homes and bring families with children to go to our overcrowded schools?" City Commissioner Scott Kleiman said. "This is a joke!"

Kleiman asked City Attorney Allan Ruff to look into the matter and seek possible solutions.

Ruff said he will work with the city's Planning and Zoning Department to review possible rezoning. The site is zoned to allow anything from single-family condos to large homes. Now commissioners are considering rezoning the land for single-use, thereby dropping the potential development value of the land.

The School Board has owned the site, donated by Rock Creek's developers, since the mid-1970s. It has been on the board's surplus list since then.

In other action:

Commissioners tentatively agreed to extend the time allowed for utility customers to pay their monthly bills. The extension will allow five additional days after a bill's due date before services are disconnected. A vote on final approval is scheduled for Aug. 15.

Finance Director Horacio Montes de Oca said about 60 residents a month get their service disconnected.

"We just want to give customers more time to receive the final notice," he said.

Commissioners unanimously approved a preliminary plan for a new 31-acre Publix shopping plaza in the east end of the city. The 51,000-square-foot plaza on the northwest corner of Douglas Road and Sheridan Street would be called Cooper City Commons. The Paradise Group of Weston would build the center.

Mileydi Guilarte can be reached at mguilarte@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7907.